Carline



Dec. 14, 1937. w. P. MURPHY CARLI NE Filed Oct. 5, 1956 Patented Dec.14, 1937 PATENT OFFICE CARLINE Walter P. Murphy, Chicago, Ill., assignorto P. H.

Murphy Company, New Kensington, Pa., a corporation of PennsylvaniaApplication October 3, 1936, Serial No. 103,833

3 Claims.

My invention relates to carline for railway cars and has for itsprincipal object to devise a strong metal carline which will notmaterially reduce the headroom of the car and whose upper surface willsubstantially conform to the tunnel clearance outline established by theAmerican Association of Railroads so as to enable the roof to be placedat the maximum allowable height above the rails. The invention consistsin the carline hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference numerals refer tolike parts wherever they occur,

Fig. l is a side elevation of a carline conforming to my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Figs. 3 and 4 are cross sections thereof on the lines 33 and i4,respectively, of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the modified form of a carline.

The carline illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a straight middle portion i,downturned end portions 2, and two intermediate portions 3, 4 betweensaid middle portion and each end portion. At all points throughout itslength, the carline is of inverted channel shape in cross section; thatis, it comprises a fiat top or outermost portion 5, side walls 6 andflanges 1 extending laterally from the lower or inner margins of saidside walls.

The top or outer surface of the carline conforms substantially to thetunnel clearance outline established by the American Association ofRailroads. The top of the middle portion l extends in a horizontaldirection close to the uppermost angle or break in the establishedclearance outline and from this point, the top or outer surface of theinner intermediate portion 3 extends substantially parallel with theclearance outline to the second break therein and thence the top orouter surface of the outer intermediate portion 4 extends substantiallyparallel with the clearance line to a point close to the eaves of thecar.

The inner or lower surface of the carline has certain portions 8 thatare parallel with but shorter than the adjacent portions of the outersurface. These parallel portions 8 are connected by non-parallelportions 9 opposite the breaks between the middle portion l and theinner intermediate portion 3, of the upper surface and between the innerand outer intermediate portions 3, 4 of the upper surface. As each ofthese nonparallel portions 9 connects portions 8 that are parallel withthe outer surfaces at points spaced apart on opposite sides of the breakin the upper surface, the depth of'the carline increases from eachparallel portion to a point near the middle of the non-parallel portion,which point is opposite the break in the outer 5 surface. When thecarline is pressed up from a plate of uniform width, the width of thelateral flanges 1 decreases correspondingly with the increase in thedepth of the carline so that the overall width of the carline is less inthe neigh- 10 borhood of the breaks in the upper surface where the depthof the car is greatest.

The carline hereinbefore described is not only simple and strong andespecially adapted for economical manufacture, but it has the greatmerit of having its upper surface conform substantially to the tunnelclearance outline and thereby enabling the car roof to be placed at themaximum permissible height above the rails.

Such a car roof embodying said carline is shown and claimed in mycopending application, Serial No. 103,832 filed October 3, 1936. At thesame time, the carline is of such shallow depth that it does notmaterially affect the headroom or loading capacity of the car.

While the carline hereinbefore described is especially adaptable tomanufacture by die pressing, it may be cast or otherwise made. Likewise,the invention is not restricted to an inverted channel shape. Forinstance, the carline may be of Z-shaped section, which may beconsidered as a channel-shaped carline split lengthwise; or the carlinemay be in the shape of a channel opening toward the top.

At each end, the carline is provided with means for securing it to theside plate of the car. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, such securingmeans comprises an angle member ID welded or riveted to the downturnedend portion of the carline with one leg disposed vertically andextending lateral- 1y outwardly so as to fit fiatwise against the inherface of the, side plate. This outturned leg is preferably provided withone or more holes for riveting it to the side plate.

What I claim is:

1. A carline for car roofs whose upper surface substantially conforms tothe established tunnel clearance outline and whose lower surface has,certain portions, which are substantially parallel with but of shorterlength than the adjacentpor- 5 tions of the upper surface, and otherportions, which connect the ends of said short portions andsubstantially increase the depth of the carline in the regions of thebreaks in its upper surface.

channel shape and comprising a straight middleportion, verticallydisposed end portions and intermediate portions between said middleportion and said end portions, said carline having breaks in its surfaceat the ends of said intermediate, portion and in the middle regionthereof to. con-,

form the outer surface of said carline to the established tunnelclearance outline, "said carline having two breaks inrits under surfacespaced away from and on opposite sides of each of the inner and middlebreaks in its outer surface.

3. A pressed metal carline for car roofs com prising a fiat-toppedmiddle portion, vertically disposed end portions and intermediateportions between said middle portion and said end portions, saidoarline' having breaks in its outer surface at the ends of saidintermediate portionand in the middle region thereof to conform theouter. surface of said carline to the established 7 tunnel clearanceoutline, said carline having two breaks in its inner surface spaced awayfrom and onopposite sides of each of the inner and middle breaks in itsexterior surface. I

WALTER P. MURPHY.

